An educated woman is mature enough to understand the consequences of having physical relations with her partner and such cases will not fall under the ambit of rape, the Bombay High Court said on Thursday while granting anticipatory bail to a 25-year-old man.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar was hearing the anticipatory bail plea of the youth from Solapur claiming he was in a relationship with the 24-year-old woman from Mumbai and when he broke up with her she lodged an FIR against him in October last with the suburban Goregaon police on charges of rape, cheating and criminal intimidation.

According to the woman’s lawyer Aniket Nikam, the couple met in March 2015 and fell in love. “The boy on the false pretext of marriage forced the girl into a physical relation. When the girl conceived in May 2015 the boy forced her to get an abortion and later ended all relations with her,” Nikam said.

The court was, however, of a different view and said, “In such matters I am of the view that it is consensual and hence, bail should be granted.”

“I know our society has certain taboos. But if you consider western culture then this is consensual. This is not rape. When the woman is educated and mature she can say no. When you (girl) say yes then it becomes mutual,” Justice Bhatkar said.

The court while granting the man bail on a surety of Rs 25,000 directed him to not contact the girl or harass her or her family members in any manner.

A sane and rational decision of the court. If the two consenting adults, fully aware of implications, are carried away by desire of carnal pleasures, then there is no reason to hold only the male counterpart liable. The fault, if any, lies with both the consenting partners, why hold one liable, just because he is male. In a society when women demand equality in all walks of life, they should also be willing to face the consequences with equal amount of responsibility. If you want to follow the Western way of life, how can you be selective in your acceptance of norms of life.